When Holli Hipwell graduated from Fort Lewis College, she figured she’d have to move away to find fulfillment as an event planner. But not only is she still based in Durango three years later, she now gets to bring holiday magic to life for kids and kid-spirited adults across the country. Hipwell (Business Administration, ’13) works as a brand coordinator with Durango-based Rail Events, Inc., collaborating with a variety of tourist railroads to stage licensed events on their passenger trains.

FLC and Durango have joined a growing number of places and groups that have adopted the re-designation of Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day. On October 10, 2016, FLC students, faculty, staff, and community members came together to honor this historic event.

A fledgling yerba mate tea company earned $5,000 in last year’s inaugural Hawk Tank Business Plan Competition, hosted by the Fort Lewis College School of Business Administration and Alumni Engagement Office. Starting in January, a new group of contestants will get a chance to turn their own business visions into viable – and maybe prize-winning – strategic development plans in the 2017 Hawk Tank.

On Saturday, September 24th, FLC’s Outdoor Pursuits program began a two-day service project near Bluff, Utah. Sixteen members of the Fort Lewis College community -- thirteen students and three OP staff members -- comprised this hard-working group.

On October 2, 1991, a fully funded Environmental Center, or EC, opened its doors in an attic space in the College Union Building, marking a permanent change in the way the school operates, and putting FLC on the maps as a green leader. On this episode of Fortifact, we’ll have a look at how the EC fits into half a century of expanding concern for the earth’s systems. And we’ll look at the the Center’s emphasis on graduating students capable of becoming environmental leaders. We’ll also talk to some of the Center’s builders, hear about its current goals and programs, and explore the EC’s legacy as it prepares to celebrate 25 years of advocacy for the planet and its people.

“There is a gap between science and society, one that cannot be bridged just by doing more science,” says Associate Professor of Biology Heidi Steltzer. “Leadership is needed. This project is an opportunity to understand myself better and learn leadership skills to determine a role I can take in bridging this gap.”

Paul DeBell, assistant professor of Political Science, explores a familiar but little-understood side of politics: the emotions they make us feel. Political psychology is essentially the study of how people’s feelings about politics affect their political behavior. This approach emerged in the late ’80s and early ’90s, DeBell explains, but it really took hold as a subfield of political science in the 2000s.